Private Hive's Vengeance
by GRMartins
Summary: "I know what my path is now. But I can't yet follow it... They almost destroyed everything for me and I couldn't do anything against them. And so, I have one last thing to do before I become the man I want to be. I am Private Hive. And I won't stop until they are all down." Sequel to Saving Private Hive.
1. Xynothium

"Well, where do I begin? I must take down someone small, but whose help is quite needed for them... oh, of course."  
And when he opened the door, someone appeared behind him and he quickly kicked the person back, instinctively.  
"I know, I should have sent some kind of letter or something, but that seems like an overreaction, Private Hive."  
"So you are really alive... Nightshade."  
And he helped the odd gentleman get up.  
"I told you dying was no fun. And I have watched over my new friends, though you are the second one to find out I live."  
"Who was the first?"  
"Raven. Big mistake trying to watch her from the shadows. She almost banished me to some sort of interdimensional limbo before she recognized me."  
"And when she did?"  
"She threw me through a window. It was super."  
"You mean 'out the window'?"  
"No, through it. It was closed."  
"Ouch. Remind me to never cross her. But why did you come here? And why now?"  
Shade shrugged.  
"To help you with your revenge. I want to take them down, they took something from me as well."  
"Really? You seem fine to me."  
"I'm not so good. Going all Deus Ex Machina and swallowing those robots took more out of me than I thought. I am not completely powerless, but... the dimension of my gifts was very shortened. Besides... I don't have any friends besides the odd team we saw back at Kerveria and... well, out of my buddies, you need my help most of all."  
"Well, good to have you in with me" Private Hive said and gave Shade a smile.  
Shade could not help himself but smile back.  
"Uh... do you have any idea of where to go now?"  
"There will be a theft of xynothium tonight" Shade said "I overheard Professor Chang planning it."  
"Then lets get to it!"  
"History repeats itself..." Shade said to himself.

"What is the problem, Robin? You seem... angry."  
"It's a theft. Xynothium."  
"You don't think..."  
"Red X is back" Robin said "and this time, I'll stop him."  
"As you say, man."

"They have already been deactivated. I'd wager our thief is already in."  
"Well, he's not getting out. Not until I'm done with him."  
"I have my accounts to settle as well. After you."  
And they both ran in, not knowing the mess they were getting into.  
"The security cameras are busted, their lights are off. Probably a loop of sorts."  
And they just ran following the trail of security destruction and heavy steps.  
"I'm getting closer to him. He'll pay!"  
But then they got to a corridor so filled with lasers that even a mouse could have problems going through it, imagine a huge muscular guy.  
"Hold my hand, Private Hive."  
"What? This is not the time to -"  
But then Shade got his hand and before he could react and they both became a shadow that serpented through the lasers with ease. When they were done, they emerged on solid form again.  
"That was wild!"  
"Yes. Now let us - oh."  
"Not who I was expecting." Red X said.  
"You working for Chang?"  
"I only work for myself, brat. Now step aside or I'll have to force you to."  
And oddly, they did.  
"What? No battle?"  
"I'm not here to be a hero. I'm here to get Chang."  
"Good luck."  
"To you as well" Private Hive said and as Red X dissappeared in thin air, he was able to let a small spy glued to his leg.  
"That guy is sneaky."  
"Not enough. The tracking device should be in his skin by now. That spy was just the injector."  
"You did that for the Titans, didn't you?"  
"I did that for I may need to see that man again soon."  
"Very well. Oh, look what the cat's dragging in, it's one of Chang's scientists."  
"More like one of Chang's grunts, if you ask me."  
The man found Private Hive and tried to run back, but right behind him Shade appeared.  
"I'll be taking this, thank you" Shade said as he grabbed the xynothium and swallowed it inside his shadow.  
"Now go" he said after sneakily placing a spy on the man's shoulder that injected the tracking device and pressuring the man's arms just enough so that he could not feel the small prick.  
And the man left running desperately.  
"I did not expect to see you again. Not like this" someone said and they turned this time to find Robin.  
"So, back to the criminal life? You know what this means."  
"I actually can-" Private Hive started, but he could not end the sentence because he was too busy stopping a kick from Robin of hitting his face.  
"Hey, wait up, Boy Wonder" Shade said "there is a reasonable explanation for this all."  
"I believed you had changed. I really did. Yet here you are, in a crime scene. There is not much to explain here, is there?"  
"Would you just stop being such a blockhead and listen?" Shade said and a tentacle of shadow binded Robin up.  
"Let him go or you're in for a world of pain!" Cyborg said and prepared his sonic cannon.  
"Now the whole gang is here! Fun!" Shade said, filled with sarcasm.  
"It's not like we can flee, man! Can we talk before you start trying to smack our asses off?"  
"Fine. Go."  
"We came here to find Chang. Seems he's interested in this stuff again. We instead got one of his scientists and placed a tracking device on him and let him go."  
"Without his cargo, of course." Shade said and handed it to Starfire "an odd gift to a lovely lady."  
"Thank you. I thought you were dead."  
"Actually, dude... we all did."  
"I told you. Dying is no fun, kid. I had enough juice for one last tot. Shadowmorphing. I merely became a shadow and bam! Nothing there could harm me."  
"So... Red X wasn't here."  
"He was. I never fought with him, though, he was not my target."  
"You let his escape?"  
Private Hive gave a smile.  
"Not completely. ...I placed a tracking device on him, like I did with the scientist" he said "if you want to find him this bad, just go and use this, it will show you where to go. As for me..." he said, taking another one "oh, looks like I have a plane to catch."  
"Plane? You don't need a plane when you've got the necrotrain!" Shade said and with a poof, his clothes changed to those of a machinist "all aboard the Necrotrain! Next stop, Russia!"  
"So long, Titans!"  
"Wait. Why are you after Chang?"  
"He was the technology creator in the Kerveria war. He was one of them. And I am taking them down."  
"Ditto."  
"You are not going to kill them, right?"  
"I cannot assure you we shall not, but I cannot tell for sure if that shall be done as well. Cheerio."  
And they both vanished in a shadow before anyone could stop them.  
"So, what do we do?"  
"Call Red Star and ask him to keep an eye on Private Hive. Then... we get to the X."


	2. X

"We have arrived! Russia!"  
"You have" someone said and almost punched Shade.  
"Whoa, what's up?"  
"Starfire filled me on what you are about to do and villain or not, I cannot allow you to kill him!"  
"Easy, sir!" Private Hive said and rose his shield to block Red Star's punches.  
"Oh, this unpleasant greeting is becoming a pattern for us, is it not?"  
"We're not here to kill Chang!"  
"No? Then why is it that you are here?"  
"To get him to tell us the rest. Where are Brother Blood and his new alliance. You do not kill a pawn when doing so can make you lose a chance to get the King."  
"I thought you were a mercenary of sorts."  
"I was. It grew tedious. Now I'm going for revenge."  
"I see. And who's your underdressed friend?"  
"You may call me Shade, Mr. Red Star. Though we had a little bit of an unpleasant start, it is delightful to finally meet you."  
"Thank you. It is a pleasure to meet you as well. So, you seek to stop the people that almost killed your comrades? A noble cause, I can relate to it. And I think I will help you."  
"Are you sure?"  
"This Professor Chang of yours has built a gun with the xynothium. You got one of his men, but the others brought to him more than enough. He is building a chlimmotron tower that if activated, shall cause a global coldening - not as bad as an ice age, but enough to render millions as immigrants for their homes will be too cold. I tried to stop them, but alone I was defeated. But together, we might be able to stop them."  
"Could you not call other Titans?"  
"Titans North are scattered. Argent is too busy dealing with a surge of robberies made by Billy Numerous - the guy can literally be at..."  
"I know. I worked with him for some time."  
"Oh. Right. You were -"  
"Yeah. Not nearly as glamorous as advertised and way hard to get out, but I did. And Shade here is... well..."  
"I'm a man seeking amusement. And for it, I shall be hero or villain, pariah or paragon... I mean, who cares what others think if I'm having a blast?"  
"What about the 'right thing'?"  
"In my opinion, 'right thing' is what satisfies me. And if that hurts others, well, tough cookies. Lucky for you, one of the few principles I have is helping friends in need. Even because solving your troubles and making you happy makes me happy. So much for a villain."  
"Well... it is good to have your help, non-villain and non-heroes."  
"So... Titans North are scattered?"  
"Yes. There are too many villains around... it is almost like -"  
"The Brotherhood is coming with a bigger plot. They are separating the Titans again."  
"With a bunch of foils and small plots to hide a bigger one. But it won't be that easy for them this time. No. 'Cause not only I am on the other side of the war, I'm also armed with a whole new set of props."  
"Chang won't see what hit him. Oh, wait, he will. We have some questions for him."  
"Ladies and gentlemen, last call to the Necrotrain! Next stop, Chang's laboratory!"

He was relieved he had been able to use his teletransportation. That witch had almost got him.  
But he had no time to rest because a green tiger ran in his direction.  
He tried the teletransportation again, but the device had to cool down before he could use it again. There was something wrong. They seemed fiercer... not only that, they also seemed able to predict his every move.  
He threw an X that would glue Beast Boy to the floor, but instead the titan turned into a hawk and kept chasing him.  
Red X turned a left in the middle of that warehouse filled with boxes fast, but it did not go as well as he planned, for BB only went ahead for two seconds before going back and taking the turn. And soon it became worse, for he found out the corridor of boxes he was following was a dead end. Beast Boy charged as a rhino, but Red X jumped at the last second and threw an X that shocked BB. He than ran away from the warehouse hoping it was the last he saw of any Teen Titan for the day...  
But when he thought he could rest, a starbolt called his attention. He was barely able to dodge it.  
"You are not going anywhere!"  
"Sorry, sweetie" Red X said "I have places to go. How about you give me your number and we leave it be?"  
An eye beam answered his question the worst way. He threw one of his X's that was supposed to tie Starfire up, but she threw a starbolt that blew it up.  
"You'll have to do better than that!"  
Then he heard a small click and grinned.  
"Send Robin my regards" he said and threw an X that blew up in a flash, blinding her for a moment and then he was gone...  
...right to Cyborg's hands, whom he barely escaped before throwing an X that exploded in smaller X-shurilens and made the hero have to resort to his sonic beam and when he had destroyed them all, the bandit was long gone.  
Red X felt relieved for an instant. Just one, because then he thought... four. He had escaped from Raven, Beast Boy, Starfire and Cyborg, which meant...  
"Looking for me?" Robin asked and threw one of his projectiles against the bandit.  
"Well, well, the boy wonder shows up."  
"There is no escaping, X! Should have noticed that by now!"  
And as he ran, he wondered how could they know where he'd be before he got there. And then he remembered.  
The man at the labs.  
He did not fight him, but he must have done something, rigged him somehow.  
So he set the teleporter to take him to Russia - that's where Chang was and if he guessed correctly, the brat should be there as well. That would spend a lot of his fuel at once but there were somethings that just had to be done.  
"No one outsmarts Red X, kid. Payback is coming."  
And he was gone.

"That's the base. Pretty heavily guarded, too. I don't know if there is a way to get in there without being noticed, but if there is, I fail to see it."  
"Hold my hand."  
"Er... what now?"  
"Hold it." he said and saw that Private Hive was already holding the man's hand.  
Red Star sighed. And held Shade's hand.  
And they disappeared inside the shadows.

He was close to the base, but he had to calculate how to get in and attack. He had almost done so, but the two that tricked him and a Teen Titan that was with them simply melted into a shadow.  
'That guy... wasn't he a villain? I wonder what he's doing, trying to stop Chang...'  
And knew he could not use his suit's powers much, since his xynothium was running low. He had to do this the old fashioned way. It wouldn't be easy, but he had done it many times before.  
'It was how I got this suit to begin with...'  
And quickly got a small gun and shot to the right, then running to the left. While two of the guards ran to find out what was that noise, he slid behind them sneakily and got through a window before the tower's guards could even realise he was there.  
'And Chang has xynothium. This might work out great for me.'  
"Look at that, he came for us" Shade said "just like you predicted."  
"I was a bandit for a long time. I know how one thinks."  
Red X grabbed Private Hive by the collar. He did nothing to stop him, though.  
"You placed a tracking device on me and then gave the tracker to them, didn't you?"  
"I had to call your attention" Private Hive said with an amused tone "and you weren't exactly in talking mood back there."  
"Remove this thing from me or you'll pay."  
"Now, now, let us not be hasty. We can make a deal here."  
"Shade, aren't you forgetting... he is a thief. We should be stopping him. We must stop him."  
"Red Star... we never kill off an NPC when we can use him to help us strike down the true enemy."  
"What the hell is he talking about?"  
He smiled and took out of his belt a GameStationPortable.  
"War Badge 5! Just the most awesome strategy game ever!" he said with a cheerful smile.  
"I did not know that side of yours."  
"Try it, Shade. You'll see what I mean" he replied and threw the GameStationPortable to the other, that got it and put in his pocket for the time being.  
"What do I win by not killing you now, brat?"  
"Let me see... I deactivate the tracking device... and you can probably steal one or two cases of xynothium after we are done."  
"You will let me escape with it?"  
"I am not a villain, yet I am no hero. So as long as you're not teamed up with the guys that I wish to take down, we've got no problems."  
"I already told you I only work for myself."  
"Then everything will be just okay between us. By the way, I am Private Hive, ex-villain and ex-mercenary. This is Red Star, a Teen Titan that acts mostly around these parts and this one here is Nightshade. He's... weird."  
"Whatever. Let's just get done with this and part ways."  
"You're not... very friendly, are you?"  
"Today we meet as allies... tomorrow it may be as enemies. Why would I make the mistake of letting silly stuff such as friendship cloud my judgement?"  
"Deal with stuff as you wish, man" Private Hive said and shrugged.  
"Actually, stealing the xynothium is the best thing he can do" Shade said "I heard Chang talking. Seems that since we stole back one of the crates, he has barely enough for the machine" and then his shadow showed a tentacle with a small vial of xynothium.  
"It is not enough for you to sustain that thing for long, but it might just be the right amount to help you get there."  
"And the chip?"  
"We'll talk about that after we have Chang."  
Red X let go of Private Hive and ran off to the supplies.  
"You really think it is safe to trust him?"  
"I do not, Red Star, but I've got a backup plan should he betray us. But let us cross that bridge when we come to it. And I do know that at least a little part of you is wondering if I won't betray you and lock you up while me and Red X collect the spoils of war."  
"I never..."  
"Those days are behind me. Being a villain is not so much of a kick when you've got enough cash to live fine without doing it. I thought I'd do it just for the kick... but that would be not only wrong, but I'd also hate myself for it."  
"But you are willing to stop us from catching Red X?" Red Star asked and punched a scientist that was nearby and about to sound an alarm.  
"Me? I've got a deal with him for now. After that, he's all yours." he said and shrugged "I may even help you catch him."  
"I thought you were no hero."  
"No. Yet, my plans put me up against what seems to be the rebirthing of a villain corporation, so it's best I'm in good terms with the good guys, heh?"  
"Shut up."  
"Shade, we're just -"  
"Shut up. He's up there, at the controllers. Chang."  
"Can you shadow take him?"  
"I don't think so. He might try to react to arrest and do something with the robots in me."  
"Oh. Then we do this the old-fashioned way, huh?"  
Chang was laughing and pressed a button. Then he got angry and started to curse and boss around.  
"Red X did his job."  
"I did" he said "now get that tracker off me or I'll force you to."  
"Very well" Private Hive said and crushed a controller, but then Red X was zapped and lost consciousness.  
"Oops" he said as Shade enveloped the man in shadows and left him bounded.  
"Now, a trade. You help me get Chang and Red X is all yours."  
And smiled right before dropping his shield and jumping over it, making it become a hoverboard and activating some more of his gadgets. Shade simply melted into a nearby shadow and disappeared.  
"Well, he won't be distracted forever" Red Star said to himself and flew to the direction opposite to that of Private, quickly knocking down three scientists, but the fourth used a plastic glue gun that glued him to the floor and then another came with an electric cane, ready to attack the immobilized hero. Private Hive saw that as he dispatched the last scientist on his side with an upward hoverboard bash and also saw that Professor Chang escaped with a jetpack.  
'Crap, what do I do? Hell, I can't believe I'm actually doing this!' he thought as he jumped and attacked the scientists, taking the electric cane, using it to quickly knock out the rest of them and then used a small laser that came from his indicator to cut Red Star out of the mess.  
"Thanks, comrade. I thought they'd go at me. But your mark... it seems he escaped."  
"I'll get him another time, sir. Just good to see you're okay."  
"And that is now" Shade said, appearing out of another shadow and holding Professor Chang, that was as bound as Red X had been.  
"Professor Chang."  
"W-who are you?! What do you want?"  
"I want answers! Brother Blood! Where is he hiding?" Private Hive asked and held him by the collar.  
"I-I..." he started, but then his eyes glew red for a moment and he started to drool after that.  
"What happened? What did you do?"  
"I did nothing. Someone wiped his mind... and if they did, they might know about us."  
"Private... don't tell me..."  
"I know not for sure what I shall do after this is all over... but it seems that for now, I'll have to be a hero" he said and sighed "such an outcome. Shade, can you get us to Titans Tower?"  
"Where there's a shadow, there's a way! Last call for the necrotrain!" he said as Private Hive quickly got off his shield/hoverboard and tied it on his back right before getting the now drooling Professor Chang and Red Star did the same to the unconscious Red X.  
And when Shade held their hands, they melted into shadow.


	3. Lost Within

"Red Star? Private Hive? It is late. What are you doing here?" Robin asked as he and the Titans approached them, apparently all half-asleep.  
"We bring Red X. And dire tidings."  
"Dire tidings? Of what kind?"  
"I confronted Chang, but before I could get anything important, he went like that" Private Hive said and dropped the drooling man.  
"Raven, can you try to read his mind? You may find something."  
"I'll try" she said and placed her hand on Chang's head, but then Private Hive unnadvertantly touched her and they saw something.

"You should have known the boy would seek revenge. It is only logical, considering his past."  
"Forgive me for my failure, sir. It shall not happen again."  
"It happens as we speak. The boy and the young witch who brought once the end of days are watching us right now."  
"Then we should teach them what happens to undesired visitors." he said and through the hood, they saw a pair of red shining eyes...

And they were both knocked back greatly from the mesmerized Chang. Raven got up with the help of Beast Boy, dizzy.  
"Are you okay?"  
"Yes. Private Hive touched him when I started and we saw something. There were two of them... talking about him... then they sensed us... they knew what I did... me and... Trigon. And we were kicked out."  
"Uh... guys? He's not waking up" Beast Boy said, poking Private Hive.  
"I think he is mindlocked. They could not do that with me since I am protected, but he was vulnerable."  
"So, what do we do?"  
"He needs to go through the maze of his mind and face his demons."  
"Kinda like how you did when that red you decided to go free in there..."  
"We can't do the same as you two did for there is no outward gate to his mind like my mirror. He has to face that all by himself."  
And they looked at the unconscious man, wondering what kind of devils were hidden in there.

_"Why can't you be more like your brother? Why must you cause so much trouble?"_  
_"He's not even my real brother! He cam from space, I know that!"_  
_"Well, sometimes it feels like he's the only son we've ever wanted!"_  
_That hurt him more than any spanking or beating ever had. It was that moment that became inprinted in his mind forever._  
_Back then he decided that if he could never be the best and surpass his brother... he would be the worst._  
_His father tried to apologize, but it was too late. The damage was done. That night was when he left the house never to return._  
_"Why?" the grown-up Private Hive asked "Why do you show me this?"_  
_A darker version of him smiled. And hugged him from behind._  
_"Because you fool yourself. You can't be a hero. Your brother? The one that took your parents away from you? He is a hero. You can never be better than he was. So, why try?"_  
_"Because I do not need to be a bad guy anymore. I have the cash to sustain myself without resorting to it."_  
_The darker him laughed._  
_"Cash? It was never about the cash! It was about giving them all the middle finger! About making them suffer with the thought that they made you that monster! That if only they had treated you better... you wouldn't be that way. But they never really cared, did they? And why should they, either way? They already had him. The perfect son. You? You were nothing more than a burden they were forced to carry."_  
_"STOP IT! SHUT UP!"_  
_"You can't not hear me. I am you. The true you that you hide with those lies of having changed. We are still as evil as we ever were, kid. Don't fool yourself."_  
_"No. I can be more than this."_  
_"Can you?" he asked and then everything changed. They were in a graveyard and he saw his grown self from back then look at a grave._  
_"My grave."_  
_"Your parents prefered to bury you than to believe you were alive. They did that to spare themselves from the shame of having a devil as a son."_  
_"It had nothing but my name written..."_  
_"Yes. Only because they had nothing nice to say about you. 'Beloved Son'? Oh, no, they hated you. You constantly spat at their memories by doing what you did."_  
_"..."_  
_"You were and always will be nothing! There is no path for you except evil! You saw what happened the one time you tried to be more. You suffered more than ever!"_  
_"..."_

"It seems like he is suffering."  
"It's his demon. It is too strong. Do you have any idea how powerful your dark side will be if you feed him for years and years? This is the first time since he was a kid that he tries to be more."  
"You know a lot."  
"I have been watching for longer than he knows."  
"What if he is defeated?"  
"He will die or his darker self will become the dominant self. He will be evil again and this time, forever."  
"We can't do anything."  
"I can try to go in... but it is risky."  
"How risky?"  
"Cyborg and Beast Boy know. If he loses the battle... I'll be trapped in there."  
"You can't go!"  
She looked at him. It looked like he was suffering.  
"He must win" she said and tried to ease the pain, but when she touched him, she saw things and felt the pain... she saw flashes of his memories.  
"Raven!"  
"I... see..." she said "it's so..."  
And then she took her astral form and went in him before anyone could stop her.

_"The Hive academy." he said and instantly, they were there "The first place were you felt you were more than a disgrace. Where you achieved something. And then heroes came along and destroyed it."_  
_"STOP MESSING WITH MY HEAD!"_  
_"Messing? I'm only showing you the truth you chose to forget. Heroes took everything away from you and you think you can join them?"_  
_"I can be better. Why must you stand in my path?"_  
_"Because that is not your path. You will always be nothing! Stop fooling yourself to think you can be more!"_  
_"He can" a voice said and Raven appeared._  
_"What do you know, girl? You are more already! It is so easy for those at higher ground to question why we are so low!"_  
_"Higher ground? I started from lower than you ever did" she said and the background of the destruction of the Hive academy was replaced by something far worse... the Privates saw a third version of him petrified in the middle of a martial arts practice._  
_"Ever since I was born, I was meant to cause this" she said and zoomed out to the destroyed Earth "I dared to want more. And I got more."_  
_Then she slapped the normal Private Hive to his shock._  
_"So cut it out with the self-pity. The only one nagging you behind now is yourself."_  
_"I never knew..."_  
_But then the darker him pushed Raven away._  
_"She lies to you! Your family pushed you away! You have no friends! Face it... all you have is me! All I ever had was me!"_  
_But then the normal punched the dark one._  
_"I am tired of you!"_  
_He punched the darker self again._  
_"I don't need a family, I can sustain myself now!"_  
_He kicked him._  
_"I have friends that saved me without asking for anything in return!"_  
_The dark self fell on the floor and the background changed to Kerveria Palace._  
_"I am not you! Not anymore!"_  
_And he gave a last punch on the dark self, that seemed to swallow him whole to a place where all that surrounded him was red. He saw a kid there... a crying child._  
_"No... stay away... you hate me."_  
_And then he got it. That child was him too. He smiled calmly to the kid._  
_"Why don't you go see my brother? He is the one everybody likes! I am nothing but a burden!"_  
_He got closer and the kid hid his face, afraid he'd be hitten._  
_But nothing ever happened because he was pulled away by something..._

"So?"  
"I did what I could. It is up to him now."  
And then he woke up, peaceful.  
"Are you okay?"  
"Better than ever... but still..." he said.  
"So, who's that brother of yours?"  
"Oh. You probably know him as Purge."  
"WHAAT? The legendary Purge is your brother?"  
"You make much more sense now."  
"This Purge fellow... he is important?" Shade asked.  
"He is just one of the greatest heroes ever. He doesn't act much here for he deals with galactical menaces."  
"Even in Tamaran we have heard of him."  
"Try being a mere human with that guy as your brother. I tell you, I should be way more messed up."  
"Whoa."  
"Last time I saw him was a little bit after the whole Army Brats confusion. He used his status to get me out of prison and then scolded me big time."

_"How long are you going to act like this, brother?"_  
_"What else did you expect?" Private Hive said "I don't have anywhere else to go. My family buried me and my friends rejected me. This thing... it is all I have left."_  
_Purge kicked his brother's face._  
_"Is that it? What happened to the boy I always fought? The one that promised that one day he'd surpass me and be praised?"_  
_"He grew up. He finally saw he was chasing the impossible. And he gave up doing so."_  
_Purge kicked him again, now with strength enough to make him fall._  
_"Give me twenty, soldier! I can't believe all the bullcrap I am hearing!"_  
_"I won't."_  
_"What?"_  
_"I am not going to listen to you."_  
_"You are already a bunch of crap! Obeying your masters is the least you could do." he said and placed his feet on his brother's chest._  
_Then Private Hive suddenly got up and punched Purge._  
_"Don't you dare tell me what to do! I'll kick your ass!"_  
_Purge merely turned back to his brother and laughed._  
_"There's my fighting bro! I knew you still had all that boltzy energy in you! Now use it!" he said and threw a bag to him before leaving._  
_Private Hive opened the bag. It was filled with cash, enough for him to start a new path in his life._

"So that is how it started. Hive Corps."  
"I don't get it. If Purge is so powerful, why didn't he resist Trigon?"  
"You saw that?"  
"'The gem was made of evil's fire. The gem shall be his portal. He comes to claim, he comes to sire, the end of all things mortal'. Mortal. I am not mortal, so I wasn't affected. Neither was my prison, though, so all I could do was watch."  
"He wasn't here at Earth, actually. He was in Invallia, stopping a war."  
"Oh. You decided what you'll do?"  
"To stop the Brotherhood, I shall become a hero. After that... we'll see..."  
"What do you know about their plans?"  
"They have gathered villains again. And they're dividing the Titans again, but I think their reason is different."  
"They are borsht'lag!" Starfire said.  
"They're... a what now?"  
"Borsht'lag. It is when you use a big show to illude people while you do your real plot behind their backs."  
"Girl, you could have explained it from the beginning."  
"Exactly. Chang was one of the bosses, it seems. Not only his plot was big, he was mindwiped when we caught him, which means he knew a lot. But who could the other bosses be?"  
"General Immortus, most likely. And Madame Rouge too. She's a slippery one."  
"Don't you worry, we won't lose."  
"Why?"  
"Because this time, I'm on your side" Private Hive said and smiled "and they won't see what hit 'em."  
But then he felt a dark omen. Something that took the cheerfulness away.  
In his reflection at the window, he watched...  
His dark one smiled devilishly and he knew he'd have to face him again before it was done.


	4. Strike One

"So, where do we begin?"  
"We need to see the bigger plots. Call all Titans and ask them who are they chasing and what do they know about them."  
"Good luck with that" Private Hive said "I need some rest. Fighting inner demons took much out of me."  
"I will see if I can find anything on my own" Nightshade said, but before he lurked into the shadows, Private Hive threw something to him.  
It was a small communicator.  
"Hey. In case things get awry."  
"Whatever" Nightshade said and disappeared in the darkness.  
"Ugh. That guy gives me the chills."  
"He invaded my room once. I threw him through the window."  
"Don't you mean 'out the window'?"  
"No, Cyborg. That would imply the window was open."  
"Oh. Got it."  
Private Hive then lied down on the sofa and fell asleep instantly.

_ "Why can't you be more like your brother? Why must you cause so much trouble?"_  
_ "He's not even my real brother! He cam from space, I know that!"_  
_ "Well, sometimes it feels like he's the only son we've ever wanted!"_  
_ It haunted him again. The past he had been able to ignore for so long... it was coming back, full force against him._

_ "I'm sorry for your loss" he heard a person say to his mother at the graveyard. He went there every once in a while to take care of his grave. She hadn't arrived at it yet, but when she did, she let out a scream and he smiled from afar._  
_ Because he had left a single white tulip, her favorite flower, at the grave._  
_ "It'll be harder to erase me, mother" he said to himself "you can't hope to bury an empty coffin and be done with it."_

_ "You never talked much about your past... I wonder why."_  
_ "My past is mine only, Jinx. And that is not an area you should mess with."_  
_ "Sheesh. Just trying to know you better, blockhead."_  
_ And she left. He felt like such a jerk that day that for he could not focus in class and almost lost an arm during combat practice._

_ "Sir... go on. I'll hold them as long as I can." the last of his squad said right before throwing a smoke bomb. Private Hive wanted to stay and fight... but his legs did not obey him. He ran to an old fort and as soon as he stopped running and sitted down, he got a small communicator, hoping that thing would still work._  
_ "Guys...? This is Private Hive. I need help! They're going to kill my friends! I'm at a fort on the western coast of Kerveria! Please, I need your help!"_  
_ And he waited until he passed out from the tiring run._

_ Two days had passed. And yet nothing. So much for villain loyalty._  
_ He got his communicator again and hesitated for a moment. Calling them? After all they had done to him?_  
_ ...That was not for him. It was for his squad._  
_ So he swallowed his pride and sent a new message._  
_ "I... I'm not sure I should be calling you, but... I have no one else to go to... they... they caught my squad! They're going to kill all of them! I'm in an old fort on the western coast of Kerveria! Please, help me!"_  
_ No names. It was easier for them to send help if they did not know it was him. He could explain it when they got there... if they ever did._

_ "We're alright. We caught a weapon from one of their soldiers, the one that affected powers. Private?"_  
_ "..."_  
_ "Private, give the weapon to Cyborg. He may be able to discover how to counter it."_  
_ He got the weapon, but instead of giving it to them, he pointed it at Beast Boy and prepared to shoot._

_ "The enemy contacted me. They asked me to betray you and sell my friends to spare my men, sir. And I regret to admit that for a moment... I thought of taking the chance."_  
_ "That is very bad. I am dissappointed. Wait... are those behind you... Titans?"_  
_ "Yep. They're the old friends I told you 'bout. Sure we had our fights back then, but I left that life behind me."_  
_ "You're an ex-criminal! For the love of God, I can't believe I hired filth to save my kingdom! We're done, Hive! Forget your paycheck, everything! And don't you dare call me again, or I'll get my bodyguards to hunt you down!"_  
_ And he cut the connection._

_ "You see, that, don't you? When you were a villain, you were certain of everything. As anything else... you can't trust yourself. Admit it. You are supposed to be evil, Private Hive. So stop fooling yourself into thinking you can be anything else... because evil is what we do best."_

And he woke up startled.  
"Oh, good, you're up! Bumblebee tells us there is some kind of mind-wiping device being built in his location. Seems Mad Mod is at his tricks again."  
"Uh..." he said, still confused with what the darker self said in his dream. He wanted to be more... but could he really, after all he had already done?  
"What's that got to do with the Brotherhood?"  
"He says he saw Monsieur Mallah talk to Mad Mod directly several times."  
"Worth checking out, it seems. Any news from Shade?"  
"Nothing."  
"Hm... he should be back by now. Red Star, do you mind staying to keep the city safe?"  
"Not really. Safe travel, comrades!"  
"Thank you" Starfire said and smiled, which made Robin a little bit jealous. Then Raven engulfed them in darkness and warped out of there.

"Hey, Sparky! You took your sweet time!" Bumblebee said as soon as they arrived.  
"Sorry we were busy talking to everyone because you are not the only one with a problem!"  
"Well, Bee. Long time no see."  
She instantly got her stingers and threw a jolt against him and he fell. And before anyone could say anything, she quickly jumped over him and pointed her weapon right to his face.  
"Just give me one reason, Private, not to shoot you now."  
"Ah, quirky as always, huh? Good to see some stuff never changes, Bee. Well, some of it does and part of it is that I am an ally of yours."  
"He's kidding, right? ...Right?"  
"What? I wasn't so bad!"  
"How could I know? You talked so little about yourself that the only one more mysterious was Kyd Wykkyd and that's because he never said a word."  
"Well... let's just say my past is something better locked away..."  
"So, what's the status?"  
"This is probably the biggest hypnosis device I have ever seen. They are building an antenna and if my information is correct, when ready, it'll turn all televisions in the west into hypno screens."  
"You were right. This reeks of Brotherhood all over."  
And like an act of unholy providence, their communicators started to ring like crazy.  
"Bushido needs reinforcements."  
"So does Argent."  
"And Aqualad."  
"And Hot Shot. Seems we have to divide ourselves."  
"Starfire, go for Argent. Beast Boy, help Aqualad. Raven, go for Hot Shot. And Cyborg, you -"  
"He stays. Sparky's probably our best chance to destroy that thing."  
"I agree. Robin, go and help Bushido. We'll figure it out."  
"...Fine. But if you need anything, we're just a call away."  
And with a little help from Raven, they left, which made Private Hive check his own communicator to see if Shade had sent a message, but nothing yet.  
"So, Hive, what made you change sides?"  
"Oh, Bee, you never learned that a man's past is his own?"  
"That theory hasn't gotten you so far until now."  
"Fine, I guess I can share a little. It was the same thing that made me evil in the first place. My brother."  
"And who's this big shot brother of yours?"  
"You probably know him as Purge."  
"You're kiddin, right? Purge is your bro?"  
"Yeah, yeah, my brother is the perfect hero..." he said "and I ended up like this, judge away."  
"I had no idea."  
"Yep, I'm the brother of perfection incarnated. Sure made it hell enough back home. How do we strike that whole thing down?"  
"Whoa, whoa, dontcha dare change the subject! I finally squeeze something out of you and you think you can get away with it?"  
"I'm done. Stop asking questions."  
"No man tells me what to do!" she said.  
"You see" the darker him said, leaning on his shoulder "why do you think they ask about you? Because they want to be your friends? Don't make me laugh. They only wish to learn how to take you down when you betray them!"  
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" he yelled and tried to slap the other him, but he wasn't really there.  
"Chill, man! Jeez, if you're that troubled, I'll leave you alone!"  
"N-no, not... my head is kind of... acking."  
"Dude..."  
"I'll be fine... any plans about that thing?"  
"It's guarded by his robots. I took one of them after his de-revolution and studied it, so I know how to take them down."  
"I think I can shrink, get inside the antenna and do some nasty damage while I'm at it."  
"What about me?"  
"Private, you take down the boss of the hour."  
"Well, he'll never see what hit him."  
And they split up.

Cyborg found the robots. Showtime. threw a steel box against one of them.  
"Hey! Big, square and dumb! Looking for me?"  
And the robots ran after him, but this time around he was ready.  
He quickly punched the first one with such strength that the robot was simply pierced and then the second one came with a gun, but he knew what to do even then. In a very cartoonish style, he placed his cannon in the rifle and activated, causing a chain reaction that blew everything up.  
"Seems like you'll need a mechanic!" he said, but then a third shot him from the back, throwing him against a wall.  
And when he turned Cyborg to give a finishing punch, he was suddenly blown up by which later was revealed to be a hidden cannon on the man's foot.  
"Boo-ya! Who's next?"

An entrance. That was all it took.  
She was in and ready to ruin that thing from inside. But when she tried to zap a bunch of wires, they merely absorbed the energy ans she found out it would be a little harder than that.  
"Okay, then, it'll have to be the good old-fashioned way!"  
Bumblebee placed one of her zappers back on her belt and clicked a point on the other, making a part of it shaped like a knife go separate. She rarely used that function, but it was useful whenever she had to cut wires or when Mas y Menos had dirtied every other knife in the house making one of their mile-long multiple-creamed sandwiches.  
It gave her the creeps just to think of that.  
'You're not the only one with tricks, Sparky.' she thought as she followed the cords to a central system and held the knife ready to cut some wires.

"Come on, you can do better than that!" Mad Mod yelled at the robots from atop his tower as he watched Cyborg easily get rid of them.  
"Am I interrupting something, sir?" Private Hive asked gently as he got in.  
"Nah, I'm just... who are you, twit?"  
"The name's Private Hive. We were allies during the last stand at Paris, remember?"  
"Oh... right, right..." he said, pretending to do so "and what's a young duckie like you doing here?"  
"I bring a message for you."  
"'Bout them? No worries, I'll take care of those little twerps in no time."  
"I would not be so sure" Private Hive said and punched Mad Mod, quickly taking his cane as he was knocked back with both the punch and the surprise.  
"A cane? How... elderly."  
"Hey! Give that back! I thought you were one of us!"  
Private Hive smiled and broke the cane.  
"Oops. Betrayal, champ!"  
And he used a device to tie Mad Mod with an odd energy net while breaking the window.  
"Great you're a bad one! Breaking my cane will make that whole thing blow up! I don't think your buzzing friend can get out in time!"  
"How do I stop this? Tell me now!"  
"Oh, you have a heart now, matey? Or is that little buzzer actually your girlfriend?"  
"TELL ME NOW!" he said and pressed a button that made the net give the villain a shock.  
"There is no way, brat! What's done is done! Now watch as the antenna succumbs and so does she!" Mad Mod said and laughed in a sick delight "You can never hope to stop him! He sees it all, he knows it all!"  
"Who is he?"  
"Why don't you ask your friend Shade? His answer will be rather amusing, kiddo."  
"What the hell is going on? Bee?!" Cyborg started to yell as he saw the machine starting to collapse and yet no sign of her "Come on, Bee, get out of there!"  
"Oh, now I get it, he's the lover boy! Think he'll try to kill you when he finds out it is all your fault?"  
Private Hive had no answer for that. He only stared at the collapsing antenna and hoped Bumblebee could get out of there in time...  
And for a moment, the machine's burstings slowed down... and then the girl got out and grew back to her normal size, sweating. Private Hive got the net that held Mad Mod and jumped out the window to meet them and the antenna finally destroyed itself completely.  
"It was strange... I thought I was done for... but that thing almost stopped blowing up for a moment... that's why I escaped."  
"That was weird. Just glad you're fine, Bee."  
"Don't go fallin' for me, Sparky, I haven't got the time for this now!"  
"W-whaat?! Who said anything about fallin'? I have a girlfriend, y'know?"  
"Oh, really? What's her name, Sparky? Nancy I-Don't-Exist?"  
"GAH! You are enfuriating!"  
And in the back, he smiled that there, everything had ended up okay... wait, had it? Mad Mod had been awfully silent since they went out the window.  
He looked at the criminal and saw the same empty eyes as he saw on Chang.  
"Guys?" he called their attention "It happened again."  
"What happened?"  
"He was brainwashed. Like Chang."  
"You got anything from him?"  
"He said that his leader 'sees it all and knows it all'... and that Shade knew who he was."  
"Who's Shade?"  
"The guy that saved us all back in Kerveria. He's like a mystery wrapped in an enigma. He's more misterious than Raven and Kyd Wykkyd together."  
"Has he contacted you yet?"  
"Nothing. I don't know if he betrayed me or if he's really in danger. Either way, there's no message."

"Too bad Doctor Light wasn't nice enough to join us." he said "I had to develop the light prison you are in by myself. Took a long time."  
"Sure sure" Shade said, playing War Badges 5.  
"But now that you are arrested, there are no other real threats to my plan! I shall be victorious!"  
"Whatever you say, sweetie" Shade said, without taking his eyes out of the screen.  
"Are you going to keep ignoring me?!"  
"I know all I have to know. Who you really are, what you want and who can thwart your plot. But I don't know yet why Revnar Kingdom decided to conquer Gerovia, so I have to keep playing to find out."  
The man tried to take away the game, but the same cage that kept Shade arrested kept him from doing anything against him.  
"You should have thought of that better, 'Blood'. If I can really call you that."  
"No matter. That silly game's batteries can't last forever. And neither can your friends."


	5. Strike Two

"Starfire just called for help. She said it is pretty urgent" Cyborg told Private Hive "so I asked Bee to take care of the mess around here and we'll go help her."  
"Fine by me. Just hope we're getting another boss down."  
Private Hive pressed a button on his hoverboard and it grew bigger enough for him and Cyborg.  
"Hold on tight, we're going supersonic!" he said and an armor of energy was formed around him.  
"You sure 'bout this thing?"  
"Let's fly, baby!"

"I'm sending a small gift for one of your friends. Beast Boy. What do you think?"  
Shade took his eyes off the game for a moment and was speechless when he saw.  
"B-but I thought..."  
"I know. He'll be powerless" he said "delightful."  
And then snapped his fingers and the gift was gone.  
"It's about to meet our green friend. You can't stop it, Shade. All you can do is watch as I kill off your friends, one by one."  
Shade did nor reply. He could not do anything, so he was back to his little game.

"Starfire? What's the problem?"  
"That" she said, pointing to a bunch of machines that created little eletric monsters.  
"Overload is using an odd machine to create little versions of himself."  
"Overload? Well, crap, we can't question him!" Private Hive said, tense.  
"Destroy the roof, Star. We have to douse all this place up."  
She then got out of their hiding place and flew to the roof of the warehouse, but as soon as she did, the small Overload spaws started to try and strike her as lightnings.  
"Time to pull the plug on you!" Cyborg yelled and used his sonic cannon to destroy the creating machines.  
It was good, because it meant there would be no more mini-Overloads being created.  
It was bad because normal-sized Overload woke up and started to rampage around.  
"Any plans?"  
"I can think of one. We need to -" Private Hive started, but he was hit by a lightning and flew back to a wall and hit it hard.  
"Private!" Cyborg said and was going to help him, but a huge electric arm stopped him and Overload was about to zap him when a huge rock hit him.  
"I am done with the roof!" she said as the pipes up there threw down some water that weakened him and his minions "Now I'm here for you!"  
And she threw a starbolt on the floor, breaking a pipe and making water flow against him, diminishing him to his defenceless chip form.  
Cyborg quickly opened a rubber ball and threw Overload in there.  
"Private?" they tried calling him, but when he opened his eyes, they had a blue glow for a moment. Then they came back to normal and he grunted.  
"Are you okay?"  
Then he remembered what he saw and stood up in a panic.  
"I am, but Beast Boy is not! Come on, we have to go?"  
"What is wrong?"  
"I had a vision. Beast Boy is being attacked by someone, except he is not striking back. And he'll be done for if we don't go!"  
"Are you sure about that?"  
"I am, come on!"


	6. Foul Play

"Talk to me! Why can't we just talk?" he asked, but then had to dodge yet another attack.  
"Beast Boy! What is... oh... no way..."  
"It... can't be!"  
"I'm totally lost here" Private Hive said "what's going on?"  
"That's..."  
"Friend Terra?" Starfire asked, shocked to see that she attacked Beast Boy.  
'Hm... I've seen that face before... but where?'  
"Ok, recap: she was a Titan that could control earth, but struggled to use those powers. A man named Slade taught her and she became his apprentice, betraying us. That was when he took control of the city and everyone - probably you too - left."  
"Huh, I think I was in vacation. Y'know, even villains have to unwind once in a while... man, that was a good trip."  
"Moving on: we attacked them and she betrayed Slade, but all that disturbance on the geological structure woke a volcano and she stopped it, but such effort turned her to stone."  
"Like it happened to everyone when Trigon arrived."  
"Yes" he said, kind of not noticing that Private Hive of all people knew about Trigon "But then she came back - except she was a student and could not use her powers anymore. She left all the memories of herself as Terra behind."  
"But now she has her powers back and is going berserk after Beast Boy."  
"Yeah. They had a thing before she betrayed us."  
"Beast Boy, did she say anything?"  
"N-no."  
"And look at that, her geokinesis... it's clumsy and unskillful. So she either just got a memory rush back and is running berserk because of it or... she is being controlled by someone else."  
"Slade?"  
"I think not... he was rather good in making use of her powers the last time."  
"Guys, a little help here! She's getting better!"  
"Friend Terra, stop this madness! We do not wish to harm you!" Starfire said, but then Terra threw a boulder against her and she had to use her starbolts to break it before it harmed her.  
"Come on, girl, snap out of it!"  
And then she made a shockwave that knocked Cyborg back.  
'She only strike those who try to talk her out of it' Private Hive thought calmly as he got a tablet and started a research.  
An earth pike almost hit Beast Boy and that was when he saw Private Hive using a tablet in the middle of a battlefield.  
"Hey, dude, lend us a hand here!"  
"Oh, wow, their firewall is really crappy" Private Hive told himself as he invaded the high school system.  
"Dude!"  
He juggled between cameras for a moment until he found it.  
"She's there! She's at school right now!"  
"That's impossible!"  
"We're kinda defending ourselves from her, man!"  
"Sloppy use of powers... silence... attacking only those who interact directly... it all fits. That is not Terra. That is a construct that was made to look like and have the same powers as your friend."  
"What?"  
"So, two final considerations" he said, shooting Terra. She dodged right to a gorilla Beast Boy, that held her tightly "one: the guy behind all this is a sick bastard. And two: that thing is not Terra. Destroy it."  
And Beast Boy crushed her until the construct broke into dust, which proved Private's point.  
"So, what now?"  
"We better check on Robin and Raven. This guy is pulling some serious tricks out of his sleeve."

"Dammit! This Private Hive is a worse threat then I thought!"  
"He's coming for you, pal. What are you going to do?"  
"I am waiting for that, Nightshade. I eagerly wait for that moment."  
And smiled.  
"I defeated you, after all. How much harder battling him can be?"  
'You did... or so you think, pal.'


	7. Strike Three

"I need some rest..."  
"Don't you three worry" Private Hive said and then asked "I can drive the T-Car to Raven's location while you rest."  
"You wish!"  
"Look. You haven't slept for longer than a whole day. You need some rest. But I don't, for I snoozed of at the Tower while you discussed stuff about Chang, Red X and all that."  
'Besides, I don't want to sleep again, not for as long as I can avoid. He's stronger in the realm of dreams.'  
"Fine" Cyborg said and gave him the keys "but if there's a dent in my baby when we get there, you're a dead man!"  
He gave Cyborg a sad and comprehensive smile, agreeing.  
"I'm just joking, man... come on, don't take it so seriously."  
"It's not that... hah... I am a dead man."  
"Dude?"  
"Let us just say there actually is a crypt with my name out there and leave it be. Come on, we gotta go fast!"

"Where is he?"  
"I have taken him far away... sister."  
"Sister...?"  
"What? You thought you were daddy's only daughter?" he said and laughed "I admit you were the only one with the power to bring him to Earth - a priviledge you wasted - and you'll pay for that!"  
"I defeated Trigon" she said "you really think a demon spawn has a chance against me?"  
"I have a few tricks" he said and threw a red beam at her that threw her back. When she got up, Red Raven was looking at her with an evil smile. Raven merely focused and absorbed her back in without any effort.  
"I can deal with my inner demons very well. You'll have to do better than that."  
"Then I shall!" he said and rose his hands, doing an effort that made him sweat... and two dozens of Trigon's flame soldiers came from the ground.  
"Seems I have the best powers that daddy had to offer, sis."  
"You really think that, don't you?"  
"This boys defeated your friend. You think they can't stop you. DESTROY HER!"  
But they did not move.  
"The gem commands you to rest" Raven said and they went back to the ground as if nothing had ever happened "you think you can stop me with that? You are not even an amusing foe, brother." the last word was so filled with sarcasm that it was actually poisonous.  
"Then I'll have to use a more direct approach!" he said and his hands caught on fire. He grew two eyes above his normal ones and the four became red.  
'This could be trouble' she thought as she saw how much more similar to Trigon he was now.

"Don't you need to sleep, Starfire?"  
"Oh, no, I ate a Jukter Berry. It's an energetic from Tamaran. It'll keep me filled with energy for about half a day."  
"Cool, can I have one?"  
"Oh, sorry... I don't think they are good for humans."  
"That's cool" he said and took another sip from his cup "I've got my coffee to help."  
"So... what did you mean when you said there is a grave with your name?"  
"Nothing. Let's not talk about it."  
"You should. Maybe talking it out will help and since the boys there have entered hibernation mode, it will be our secret."  
"Fine" he said, thinking about that day at the Hive Academy when he felt like a jerk for being rude to Jinx. He had a soft spot for the ladies, it seemed "you can only imagine how crappy it is growing up with the perfect guy as your brother. And let us just say I was not the best guy I could be either. I was curious, boltzy, had little sense of consequences and had quite a knack of meddling where I should not. So, after yet another one of my misfortunate adventures, my dad once again scolded me. I said some stuff I shouldn't, he said some stuff he shouldn't and I left the house never to come back. I was twelve by then. My brother was a hero. I could never be better than that, so I decided that if I could not be a better man, I'd be the worst. So I spent years training with numerous masters, reading books about computers and all sorts of stuff so I'd become the ultimate villain. Hive Academy... well, when I got there, it was like I had a home again, with friends and I could relax. Then came you and broke it down."  
"We..."  
"I know now that you had great reasons and that most of the time, I was brainwashed by Brother Blood, but back then I hated you. First my adopted brother takes my birth family away from me and then the Titans take away the only other place I ever had as a home. So I hated you as much as I did my brother Purge. The Hive Five were fun for a little while, but I left because they never had a shot of actually taking you down. Then I joined the Brotherhood because there was a real chance they'd destroy the new generation of heroes - yours. And time and again, I failed. I guess now I am glad I did... then it came the Lanista and the arena, you know... using my talents for the sake of battle only! I almost let go that anger, until you took that down. Then it came back and I joined General Immortus. And he betrayed me. Robin told me to stop being a follower and become a leader then, if you can remember. I created the Army Brats from outcasts like me. It was a good idea that I turned to the wrong direction, I regret to say. I don't know if it was my brother that told my family I was dead or if they found out I had become a villain and buried that coffin as a feeble try to forget the shame, but... now, I don't care. They compared me to perfection and scolded me because I could not get there. Hypocrits. I do not wish them harm, but... if I don't ever see them again, that is okay with me."  
"Wow, I never thought there was so much behind that laughing army style of yours."  
"I know, right? I don't regret the path I took that much, though. It got me places, even if by the wrong ways... I don't know if I'll really keep going as a hero after this, but I can't think of myself as a villain back again - something about you helping me when I needed even after everything... it touched something in here. I know you hesitated, but... its the decision that matters in the end, right?"  
"Right. I was lost like you once, when I arrived at this Earth. And then I met my friends... we did not get along very well at first, but... they helped me fight the aliens that had me under custody even though it had nothing to do with them. I had never seem such kindness in Tamaran... that was why I decided to stay here. That was why I became a Titan."  
He smiled. He'd never think a year ago that he would be riding the T-Car as a driver and talking to Starfire so casually.  
"You seem happier. What is it?"  
"It is just so funny, y'know? You can't really see your life changing until you look back. Less than a year ago, I considered you and Purge my archenemies and now... I've made my peace with all of you."  
"You have done more than that... you're a friend."  
He blushed.  
"Now, it is not that much! I don't deserve your friendship!"  
"You do. You are a hero and yet you do not know it. Back in Kerveria... you saved Mammoth and you never took an easy way out."  
"I doubted myself so much..."  
"Shade said that the decision is what matters."  
"Shade... Mad Mod said Shade knew who was really behind this all, so I think that Brother Blood was just another pawn..."  
"You don't think Shade is the chief, do you?"  
"I do not. The way Mad Mod talked... he said Shade 'knew'. So he either is another of the pawns and he is a traitor or he's a traitor for he's hiding something from us."  
"Hm... he is a most mysterious person."  
"He is. Wake the boys" he said as he saw smoke from afar "we're getting there."

He started throwing fireballs against her and she chanted her mantra when she threw a huge trashcan against him... except he stopped it and threw it back so quickly she was unable to dodge.  
"That's right, sis! I can nulify your powers! Try and stop me!"  
And he ferociously roared when he jumped to get her, but she threw the trashcan upwards with a blast and dodged at the last second, so that he'd get hit by the falling object.  
But it melted and he got out fuming with anger.  
"YES! STRUGGLE! TRY AND DEFEAT ME! YOU CAN'T! NO ONE CAN DEFEAT ME!"  
"Try me" she said and dodged another set of his fireballs while throwing boxes that he destroyed with them. Then he started to use a jet of flames and she used a jolt of her magic and they struggled with it, no side able to overcome the other.  
But then his eyes threw a laser that knocked her down. He then landed next to her and prepared a last flame.  
"I was hoping this could be more entertaining, sis. Goodbye."  
"HELLO!" Private Hive yelled and hit him with the T-Car, throwing him against a bunch of trashbags.  
"Are we here in a bad time?"  
"Nope, you arrived when I needed. But what took you so long?"  
"We had to face a fake Terra. Top that up."  
And back he came charging in flames, angrier.  
"Guys, that's my half-brother. A son of Trigon."  
And they were speechless. But just for a monet because the next one was when the villain threw a fireblast that hit Private Hive on the leg.  
"Aaaugh! Take it off me, take it off!"  
"It's hellfire, idiot. You can't douse it off! It looks like your friend will die, sis!"  
He thought of Purge, his family, his friends... and focused on the burning, trying to make it stop somehow... and it did. The flames were still there, but it did not burn anymore.  
"Well, looks like Raven's not the only precious one here!" he said and laughed right before Trigon's son tried to punch him and instead was hit by Cyborg's sonic boom and trapped in one of Raven's force fields.  
"Who is he? Who leads the big charge?"  
"I have no idea of what you're talking about, filthy human!"  
And he exploded, breaking the force field and disappearing, leaving only a strong smell of sulfur behind.  
"It doesn't seem like he was part of the operation."  
"He was" a voice said "though not directly. All I gave him was Raven's location."  
And they saw Brother Blood. Not really him because when Beast Boy tried to punch, he just passed right through the man.  
"I have your precious leader, Robin. Come see me if you want him back."  
"Where are you?"  
He smiled and then said in a cryptical tone:  
"Follow the crow. It'll bring you to me."  
And as if it was called, the creature cawed from a nearby lightpole, waiting for them.  
"The flames died. Guess making that guy vanish was enough."  
"You did something that stopped the flames, somehow."  
"Hey, you slowed that antenna, didn't you?"  
"I-I don't know what you are talking about!"  
And thought, confused about that. Could it be that he was developing... powers?  
"So? We followin' that crow or what?"  
"We have to. We defeated many of the villains he sent after us and yet we know nothing of his intentions. Guess it's time to meet the boss face to fist."


	8. Endgame?

"Good to see you, welcome to my base" Brother Blood said "I should be quick about this."  
And then he smiled.  
"I am here for my son. You corrupted him and I guess the death of his step-brother will call his attention."  
And he felt the bullet pierce his heart.  
Crimson. Blood...  
End.  
Raven tried to heal him, but it was already too late. He was gone. They looked at Brother Blood angrily, but he merely looked at Shade.  
"You can't defeat me. If you do so much as lay a finger on me, a trigger will be activated and you friend Shade here and all of the robots inside him will blow up. It won't be pretty."  
"You die if that happens."  
"Oh, I don't. Just this vessel. I am currently far from this base, dearie. Checkmate" he said as he snapped his fingers and they warped into a prison room where Robin was chained.  
"I still need some baits should my little boy not care about his adopted sibling. So you'll stay here for a while. Enjoy!"  
And he disappeared.  
"Shade, what are you not telling us?"  
"Oh. Yeah, Brother Blood is supressed within his body, unable to act. His robotic part is kind of ruined, but it is not like it matters for the other. The one calling the shots is a being called Thro'hur. And he is Purge's birth father. Purge is one of the last survivors of an alien race filled with many powers... so much that it was the reason of their demise. It seems Thro'hur wants to do something involving every specimen of that race. I know not what his plan is, but considering that he said we corrupted Purge, it's something bad."  
"So, what is the plan?"  
"There is no plan. This cage is unescapable. The only way to get out is if someone gets us out. Private Hive..."  
"He's dead. That guy shot him."  
"So, what now?"  
"Now, we wait. There is nothing else to do for the time being."


	9. Intermission

'Where... am I? It is all white... is this...'  
"Heaven?"  
"Not quite, kiddo" one man said and he got up to see that he was surrounded by seven strangers that wore simple white cloaks, each one with a different and odd set of characteristics.  
"He is from a parallel universe. One we've never been to, far from our spectrum" one said. He was albino and had black hair and beard, without a mustache and one of his eyes seemed crippled, with a small pupil.  
"So, what do we do about this stranger?" the one on the left of the first to talk said. He had red hair that was messy and a goatee that he scratched. He was pale, although not as much as the other and he seemed stronger, too, with eyes that looked like they had a powerful inner fire.  
"He should be dead, yet he is here" the one on the right of the black-haired said. He was a strong tanned man with dark hair and a slight beard growing on his face. His eyes were almost like those of a cat.  
"He must be important in whatever realm he came from" the one on the opposite corner said, another red headed pale man that had a full beard and mustache and felt colder.  
"That or our presence here attracted his wayward spirit" the one beside him said. He had really short black hair, was tanned and as strong as the other tanned guy there. Unlike his colder friend, he felt warmer.  
"We trust him? I don't know how long he has been up or what he saw" the one between the warm one and the one that had fiery eyes. He was as tanned as the other two, but not as strong and his hair had a tone between ginger and brown. He felt a little bit sparky, but not dangerously.  
"We let him talk first, then we see what we do about him" the last to talk said. He was a man that had black hair and small brown eyes. He was the fattest of the group, having a considerable tummy and he was neither pale nor tanned, being something in between.  
"Uh... am I dead?"  
"Well, sort of. Usually dead people don't come here unless they are not quite that supposed to be dead." Cat-Eyes answered.  
"Are you dead?"  
"No, but I am deathtouched. I brought our spirits here because back at where we are, a wicked witch is doing a ritual to rip our spirits away from our bodies. So, we left our friends to deal with the witches and I brought our spirits here where they cannot be touched" Crippled-Eye said calmly "we should introduce ourselves. I am Leon."  
"The name's Vince." the one with fiery eyes said.  
"Ewen." the cat-eyed one said.  
"Solon Goldmind, at your service." the colder one presented himself.  
"You can call me Theron, kid" the fat guy told him.  
"I'm Benjamin" the sparky one said.  
"And I'm Brendan, Benjamin's brother" lastly, the warmer one said.  
"Oh, that is interesting. My name is Brandon. And well, I am... look, you've got magic, right?"  
"Loads and loads and more loads of it."  
"So... could you please send me back to my world? There is a huge mess down there and I need to help solve it."  
"Say no more, kid. However... to do such incantation would require some... reagents, you may say."  
"Yeah. Anchors. Things from your past. Things from who you are."  
"Yeah, I don't have them."  
"You can collect them. But not looking like that, from what I have seen from you before you woke up, in your world those clothes call attention as a hero or a villain. So..."  
Solon snapped his fingers and Private Hive was enveloped by a whirlwind. When it ended, he looked at himself and saw that he wore a light-blue shirt, black pants, a black trenchcoat and brown leather shoes. He had shades on his head, a ring on his right middle finger and a golden watch on his left wrist.  
"There. Don't worry. Your equipment was integrated to you accessories. Leon, the list for revival incantations, please."  
"Wait..." he said, throwing things out like crazy out of his backpack... like orbs, clothes, knives, appliances and many other things, but mainly books. One of the things he threw out was an empty leather briefcase.  
Brandon messed his short brown hair and smiled because he lived.  
"Can I keep this, sir?"  
"Sure, didn't know that was there. Take this" he said and gave him a 'Time Magic for Dummies' book "and this" he gave him an odd looking knife that seemed rare.  
"Are you sure?"  
"Yeah, we have like a dozen of those in our pack. That one works like Leon's, so you can put like your life in it."  
"Found it!" he said, giving the list to Brendan and right after, he snapped his fingers and all the things that had gone out, except the ones held by others went back in.  
"Let me see... the first ingredient is something from of the happiest memory you ever had."  
"Open the gates!" Vince said and Benjamin did. That was when Private Hive saw that there were black gates, the one thing besides them in that eternal white.  
"Now, go there and get something from that day. And please don't let anyone that knows you see you. That would make things messy..."  
Brandon breathed deeply for a moment.  
And jumped inside the gates.

"Hello, Mr. Purge. I have captured the Teen Titans and your dear brother Brandon. Please, contact me as soon as you get this message, there are things we must discuss."  
And turned off the recorder, sending the message.  
"Come on back, kid... Papa is waiting."


	10. Reminiscing

He was very young... it was his birthday, the last one he had celebrated, the last one before running away from home forever. And he didn't comment to anyone, but in his present, his birthday would be the next day.  
He saw himself having fun with his friends and his brother.  
'I am sorry, brother. It was never your fault, really...' he thought and saw his parents approaching him. The adult him.  
'It was you. Comparing me to him was the most disgusting thing you could have ever done.'  
"I am sorry, I have to go to the bathroom. Excuse me" he said as soon as they arrived to talk to him. And thought, trying to learn what to get from there that was important...  
And then he saw that small toy soldier.  
He called that one Harper.  
And remembered how he was confused when he found out that one of the men of his batallion was missing. That was it.  
The cycle completed itself.  
He got the soldier and thought he was done with that part, not seeing that the younger him looked at the older him confused.  
But the kid blinked, and the man was gone.

"What is this odd object?"  
"It's a toy soldier. I remembered I had lost it at my birthday and I had because I stole it."  
"Good to see you solved a mystery of your past. Hm... the next item is not so good. It has to be something from one of the saddest memories you ever had."  
"...I'll have to face it, won't I?"  
"That or you'll remain here until you give up and cross the gates for another life completely different in another land."  
"Fine. I'll go there" he thought as he jumped into the gates once more.

He saw himself running away, crying. Running from his parents in the rain.  
'Why does it always have to rain in these sad moments? So cliché.'  
The young him was twelve and had few things with him. He needed help and he did not know it yet. Brandon followed the young boy from afar so that the kid wouldn't see him.  
And then the kid fell, too tired to keep running. He lost consciousness.  
'I can't leave him in the rain like this.' he thought, getting closer until he grabbed the kid and carried him to an abandoned building.  
"Chin up, kid. You'll do just fine" he said, messing his younger unconscious self's hair and then taking one of the kid's shoes, because he remembered waking up without it.  
He thought he was done and prepared to get out of there, but this time around something stopped him.  
His darker self punched him and used that distraction to steal the shoe and then ran, laughing.  
"We're dead, kiddo! In death, there is no hope!"  
"I am not giving up, yet!" he said and ran after the man.  
"How can you be here?"  
"I am stronger in your spirit! Since your body is dead and what you have now is merely a construct, I became strong enough to have a construct as well! All I have to do now is kill you and finish the rites for myself!"  
And shot Private, but this time, he looked at the bullet before it hit him and the thing fell on the floor before piercing him.  
"What the hell is that?!"  
"My turn" he said and focused himself on the darker self... and he kind of warped to right in front of the guy and they both fell when the shock came.  
"How did you do that?"  
He smiled and punched the dark one on the heart.  
"Magic."  
And that guy vanished... for now.  
At the next moment, so did he.

"Took you longer this time around."  
"Really?"  
"Wouldn't really know, time does not flow here."  
"Huh... I'm kind of tired... what's the next item?"  
"Something from a moment that changed your life completely."  
"This one I know very well..." he thought and jumped through the gates.

Shade felt a chill... but it was a good chill. And smiled.  
Maybe his friend's death had been exaggerated.  
"Why are you smiling?" Starfire asked, confused.  
"Oh, got to the final chapter!" he said, still playing War Badge 5. With that many nuclear energy within him, he could sustain that game forever, he thought as he looked for a moment at a little shadow tentacle of his fitting the power outlet of the device.

He saw himself with someone else in the background. And this time, it was his grown-up self. And he calmly heard they talk.  
"You again?"  
"Hello, Your Highness." Private Hive said.  
"I already paid you. We're done."  
"I'm not here for that. I'm here to pay my respects as well. I almost had to bury twelve good men... and could not even do so for the one that saved them. Is that your father?"  
"Oh. No. It's my uncle. I hated him so much for taking the throne, but... it was never him. I'm here to ask for his forgiveness."  
"He must have already granted you. Death... it makes us see how much petty some of the things we fight about are."  
He smiled. The fights he had with his brother and sometimes back at the Hive Academy seemed pretty unimportant now.  
"You are wise. I am sorry I misjudged you."  
"The doubt is not what matters, sir. It is the decision that comes from it that does."  
"Those were beautiful words."  
"A friend said them to me once, sir. I misjudged him as you did with me, yet in the end he saved us all..."  
"I see... I should leave, Private, the castle is still in quite a turmoil. Are you coming?"  
"Not yet. I want to be here for a while longer."  
"Suit yourself" the prince said and left.  
And Private Hive closed his eyes and hummed...  
Which gave Brandon the chance to steal the nulifier weapon he had holstered.  
"HEY!" Private Hive from the past yelled, but it was too late, his future self was already gone.

"Next!"  
Then Leon placed his pale hand on Private Hive's head and something started to shine and as he warped, he heard the voice dictate:  
"Something from the first time you almost died..."

14-year old Brandon. ran in a marketplace in the middle-east. The man that he robbed ran right behind him with a gun. He was generally able to steal without being seen. Then again, he usually stole from commoners rather than from a member of a terrorist organization.  
The man yelled at him, but he couldn't understand what the man said.  
And even though he usually knew how to move around pretty well... maybe the adrenaline rush made him not think as clearly or the fear, but he arrived at a dead end.  
"Now you die, brat. You can't challenge us and live."  
And he was about to shoot when some sort of projectile knocked him out. The thing flew back to a person that hid in the shadows.  
"Go" he said "go far away or they'll be back for you."  
He then went to the man, that was trying to get up. Then he stole the gun and kicked the man down, putting his foot on the man's chest.  
"You'll pay for this! You won't escape from us!"  
"You can never catch me" he said and shot the man's ally that came from behind him on the heart without ever turning.  
"What the hell are you?"  
"I'm the future" he said, looked at the weapon and disappeared with it.

"There are a lot of guns in your past."  
"You live by the sword, you die by the sword. Or something like that."  
"Yeah... You are quick on your feet."  
"Had to survive on my won for quite a long time. And I find the slips in the time rather than having to create them."  
"A man who plays with paradoxes. Remarkable."  
"He is very much like us."  
"Next!"  
"Oh, this will be odd. Something from someone you love."  
"L-love?! But I-I don't love anyone?"  
"Stuck in romantic love. So young. There are other kinds of love. Is there no one else you love?"  
"Hm... there is someone."  
"Then cross the gates and go to them."  
And for the fourth time, he did.

"Brother? Is that you?" the young man asked. He wore a simple spandex uniform that was gold and white with a light symbol on the middle of the chest. He also wore a golden mask that did not cover his golden hair or his square sculpted chin. He was smiling when he turned and saw who it was.  
"Hey, there, Purge."  
"Don't call me that" he said "I feel like you are far away when you call me by my hero name. I should have been more patient with you, but... I hope you don't hate me."  
Brandon hugged his brother, which surprised him.  
"I don't hate you, Dave. You did nothing wrong."  
"Thank you, brother... tell me, what are you doing here, so far away from home?"  
"We're far?" Brandon joked, knowing tha truth. They weren't on Earth, actually. The sky was dark-pink rather than blue.  
"We're very far. This is Tamaran."  
"Oooh, so this is Starfire's planet! Pretty neat."  
"I'm taking a break. Flying around is pretty tiring. So, you here to see the sunset?"  
"I need a favor, brother. I wanted to come to you for better reasons, but right now... I really need you to do something for me."  
"You are not completely here, are you? I felt your hug was odd, but now... I am certain."  
"You are right. I am not completely here. And to revert that... I need something from you."  
But then a third presence appeared in the middle of them and knocked them both back.  
"You again!"  
"Oh, fool... you don't even understand me! How do you hope to ever defeat me?"  
And Purge threw an electromagnetic blast against the dark Private, but he merely absorbed it and threw it back doubled.  
"You have no chance against me! There is only one that can defeat me and he is too weak to do so!" the dark Private said looking at Brandon and laughing. And then he used a blast against Brandon.  
"Brother!"  
"Give me something of yours! Now!" Brandon said and Dave threw him a keychain that got him shocked when he got it.  
"You carried it even today?"  
"I did. But now you need it more than me" he said and when the dark self was about to strike the normal self from behind, they both suddenly dissapeared.

He exhaled deeply, relieved when he found himself in the white world again and his devil self wasn't there. That guy was getting more and more powerful and relentless... how could he best him?  
"Please tell me we're done."  
"Not really... we need one last thing."  
"What is it? A memento from my first kiss? Something from when I broke a bone for the first time? A lock of hair from my worst enemy?"  
"Calm down... we need your body. So we can out you two back together again."  
"Oooh... well, that will be hard."  
"I'll join you" Leon said with a calm tone and both Ewen and Vince came as well.  
"Wait... they're coming to?"  
"Me and him and him are actually one. We merged our minds and souls in an odd ritual to gain more power. Now we're brothers-of-body-and-mind-and-soul and as such, do mostly everything together."  
"Okay, then..." he replied, pretending to understand "so, we should go."  
And together, the four jumped the gates.  
"Think they'll be back?"  
"Benji, they're the Sages. What I wonder is how many casualties will happen there while they're at it."

"So, how do we... whoa!" he said as a light that pointed forward started to show from his chest.  
"That way" Leon said, bored and they followed the direction that his chest light pointed to. A robot surprised them, but before it could do anything, Vince rose his hand and a powerful fireblast reduced the machine to cinders.  
"After you, Brandon" he then said calmly and the shocked man proceeded looking at the light.  
"Oh, what do you vant, metal creature?" Madame Rouge asked when the door opened, but it was them.  
"Madame Rouge."  
"You look familiar, boy. Are you perchance a traitor? I vant the practice!"  
And she lashed at him with alongated fingers, but he dodged and shot her... but she merely bended her body to miss it.  
"You think you cand defeat me?"  
"Yeah" Ewen said and howled before his nails grew and he lashed out against her, but she evaded his claws and gave him a poweful uppercut that threw him back.  
"Next" she said and Vince charged, but the woman was prepared and threw Ewen against him and they both were knocked against a wall.  
And then she grabbed Brandon and started to squeeze him.  
"What will you do now, little brat? I have your friends."  
"NO ONE HURTS THEM..." he said, with a sinister angry voice.  
"Oh, for the Sages, Leon's going evil drive!"  
And he started to fume and looked at her with pure hate... and their surroundings began to change from a somewhat futuristic lair to a desolated realm of nightmare.  
"YOU HAVE AWOKEN ME, MORTAL. NOW FACE MY WRATH!" he said and when she looked, he was no longer the young adult she had seen, but rather a death lord, with a lot of claw hands and a skin so pale it looked bleached and eyes that gleamed red.  
And the claws reached for her and she dropped Private Hive, trying to run.  
"THERE IS NOWHERE TO GO EXCEPT DARKNESS!"  
And she ran from him...

It was really odd for Private Hive to watch Madame Rouge run and flinch on the floor without really moving. Ewen and Vince smiled as they saw Leon looking at her with an evil smile.  
"What did you do?"  
"A nightmare. The incantation will last long enough for us to proceed. Now we go...?"  
"Left."  
And they opened the door to find his body on its way to carbonization with General Immortus supervising the service.  
"Goodbye, bastard. Oh, how I've waited for that."  
And the flames went down. And so did the lights.  
"Fire and Darkness."  
"What we do best."  
"I got the body, let's go!" Ewen said and as they left, the room, started to burst into flames with the blasts of flamethrowers.

"The last ingredient. Now to prepare for the ritual. Time to take off his clothes."  
"WHAT?"  
"We're making a merger. Clothes can make the process messy and even do irreversible damage. So either we see you and your body there nude or the ritual will go awry."  
"Fine" he said and took off everything as Theron and Solon did the same to his corpse.  
"Now what?!" he asked, angry and embarassed.  
"Go into the center of the circle and lie down over your body. We'll merge you using the anchors as the matter connections."  
And so he did... and he felt odd as he went back to his body and the whirlwind of tests started. His pores exuded toxins, he sweated, punched, kicked, his hair and beard grew slightly and many other things that are better left untold.  
When he stood up again, he smelled foul. But he was alive.  
"Any clothing suggestion?"  
"What you had given me was good. But with darker colors."  
And one of them snapped his fingers and he was clean and with all the clothing he wore as an undead, but the shirt was dark-blue this time around. He then put on the shades.  
"Private Hive is no more. Now I'm just Brandon. And that guy, more than ever, is going down."  
And they heard a DING!  
"Finally, our friends got a way around that thing!" they said "Nice meeting you, Brandon!"  
And the seven jumped into the gates all at once. They remained open for him. He crossed them back to his own reality, where revenge still waited for him.


	11. A Scared Kid

"Gah!" he said as he found himself in an empty room inside the fort. He looked around and saw that there was a single door out.  
He looked at the briefcase which strap was resting on his left shoulder and got the knife that Leon gave him. It felt odd on his hand.  
"Rifter Knife" he said, without knowing how he knew its name.  
He got out of that room to find a guard right beside him.  
"Who are you? Why are you here?"  
"I am the Agent, boy" he said with an angry voice "you question me? Madame Rouge is not here. I want you to find her and report to me when you do, understood?"  
"Yes, sir!" the soldier said, scared and ran.  
"Heh."  
And he ran through the corridors to find where that man had locked up his friends.

A blade ran through the door and it fell.  
"Hello, Titans!" Brandon said with a smile.  
"Who are you?"  
"Come on, is it that easy to forget me? I came back from the dead for this reception?"  
"Private... Hive?" Raven asked.  
"Call me Brandon, sweetie! I'm back!"  
"But how?"  
"I went to this odd place that was whole white except for some gates and met some wizards there. They brought me back to life and gave me this cool blade that cuts like everything."  
"Great. Can you cut me free?" Shade asked from his light ball.  
"Not yet. I need answers from you, mister. Who's the chief here?"  
"Thro'hur. He is Purge's birth father and wants his son back."  
"And why can't I defeat my shadow? The darker self that always comes for me?"  
"Because you are taking the wrong approach. I thought you would have gotten it by now. And another thing... you have some time magic in you. Yep, there's power in there."  
"But the nulifier..."  
"You got it after. Let us say that when you fell unconscious questioning Chang, I gave you a blue drink... y'know, a warding. But it was the wrong blue drink and bipitty-bopitty-boo! You have magic. That's how you slowed down the antenna and stopped Trigon's son's flames."  
"So instead of being dead, I am back with new props AND magic? Awesome!"  
"We don't have time to cheer" Robin said "I got a signal... your brother is here."  
"Crapnuggets, we gotta move! Are you all okay?"  
"We could use some sleep."  
"Then sleep. It's an order. I'll handle this" he said, looked at Raven and they both nodded. And before any one could question, Raven threw a small incantation that put them all asleep.  
Private Hive then focused and snapped his fingers as Leon always did and the Titans glowed blue for a moment and then woke up.  
"Ah, I feel refreshed! What is this sorcery you have done?"  
"Raven put you to sleep and I sped up. It feels like a full night, yet only a minute passed."  
"You are awfully good at a gift you just learned you had."  
"It took forever to get back from the all-white realm to here. I read a book Leon gave me on the way over."  
And he showed 'Time Magic for Dummies'.  
"That guy is surprisingly insightful."  
"Leon. I think I read that name in one of my books. Nah, I'll think about it later. We must stop Thro'hur before he gets your brother."  
"Yes. I was wrong again and that mistake cost me my brother for a long time. I won't let him take Purge away from me."  
"Take him away from you? I won't let you go, kid. You're all mine!" his darker self said and this time, they all saw him.  
"What is that?"  
"He is back" Brandon said and quickly cut through Shade's light cage "go and save Purge. I'll be with you as soon as I stop this guy."  
"Are you sure?"  
"GO!" he said and Shade held the five Titans closely before melting into his own shadow.  
"I have to thank you for coming so far. Death and rebirth gave me a body of my own" he said and threw an energy blast that knocked Brandon to a wall and he fell.  
"Now all I have to do is kill you and I'll be free. I don't have to hold anything back this time."  
And another energy blast made Brandon weak.  
"You disgust me. You are a worthless little brat that only got so far because he always had others to sustain him! Now you are all alone. Nobody cares for you. And since they don't, nobody will ever miss you."  
He shot a plasma gun that he got from his briefcase to make the Dark One fall back.  
Because he finally knew how to defeat him.  
It was never about violence.  
It was about recovery.  
And the crying kid - him.  
He jumped over the Dark Self and gave him a headbutt that threw him back to the world of red where the child cried alone.  
"You... have been here alone this whole time, haven't you?" he asked gently and the boy looked at him, his eyes wet. He gently picked the kid up and two evil eyes appeared over them.  
"THIS IS MY REALM! YOU CAN'T DEFEAT ME!"  
"He... is too powerful..." the kid said "I'll be... here forever..."  
"No, you won't. He haunts you because he knows of your strength." the grown-up Brandon said "he diminishes you because he fears your power."  
And hugged the boy.  
"He sepparated us because he knows that together, we can defeat him."  
"No... no one ever wanted me! I am always alone!"  
"Are you?" he asked and gave the boy the toy soldier Harper "I watched for you when you needed me. I saved you back at the marketplace. I gave you a shelter when you ran away. Because you are worthy, kid. And beyond this world, Purge needs us."  
"NO! I HATE HIM!"  
"He suffered more than us all. To be so mighty, he could never make any mistakes. He has the pressure of the world on his shoulders... and to be better, we must help him with that burden rather then making ourselves another thing for him to worry about."  
"I..."  
"You can do this. I believe in you."  
And he hugged the boy again, that started to shine...

He woke up back in the room, alone. He felt great.  
After all that time, he had made peace with his demons.  
And now it was time to save his brother from another.


	12. Enlightened Ones

"Purge. It is indeed great to see you."  
"Who are you? Where is my brother?" Purge asked, angry.  
"He killed your brother, Purge! And he is trying to kidnap you!" Robin yelled as he got in.  
"What?! Who are you?"  
"Purge. I am your father. I came to take you home."  
"You killed my brother! I am going nowhere with you!"  
"So you prefer this humans than me? The filth?"  
"You are despicable."  
He smiled and got a small controller.  
"So be it" he said "goodbye, son."  
And he pressed the button that activated all the nukes inside Shade, hoping it would blow up everything there.  
Except Shade wasn't there.  
Instead, he had to appear rushingly because Shade had gone to his spaceship should that happen. He had long blond hair and a majestic godlike body that was entirely golden. He wore nothing more than a white skirt and his hands had holes on them that shone.

"You have fooled the soldiers, brat, but you can't fool me!" General Immortus said from inside a tank and charged.  
"Timebreak" Brandon replied and the tank - and General Immortus - were stopped in time.  
"So, but I ain't got time for that!" he said, running over the tank and leaving as quick as he could.

"You tried to kill Bee." Cyborg said and prepared his cannon.  
"You made a fake Terra!" Beast Boy said transformed into a T-Rex.  
"You threw a devil spawn against me." Raven said and her hands shone with her black energy.  
"You killed Shade!" Starfire said and her star bolts were ready to be thrown.  
"You tried to kill us" Robin said and held his bo staff, prepared for action.  
"YOU KILLED MY BROTHER!" Purge yelled and went towards him in a supersonic speed, but Thro'hur merely held him with one hand and threw him back at Raven, whom barely dodged.  
Then came Cyborg's beam that threw him back, but he retaliated with a beam of light that almost broke Cyborg's arm.  
But then he was bitten by Beat Boy, yet he heated up until the T-Rex had to spit him up with his mouth burned.  
"Aaah! Hot plate! Hot plate!"  
Starfire tried throwing her starbolts, but they slid through his body and he redirected them all against Robin, who could not dodge them all and fell, defeated. He then threw another light beam against Starfire and she could not stop it with her eye beams and fell.  
"Now it's just you and me, girl" he said to Raven and prepared his light beam.

"You vant a piece of me, boy?" she asked.  
"Nope, I just want a minute of your time."  
She stretched her arms to grab him, but he smiled and snapped his fingers... and time for her slowed down... making him able to run from her with ease.  
She yelled something, angry, but her speech was slowed and thick, so he never really understood.

And then they heard something cut the metal and a piece of it fell. Brandon came through it.  
"You? I killed you!"  
"It was you who did everything, masquerading as Brother Blood" he said, looking at the weak fallen headmaster "You conquered Kerveria to trap me and use me to get my brother, but when we thwarted your plans, you gathered a bunch of villains to separate the Titans and get to me when I was alone. You wanted to kill me because you thought that if you did so, brother would have no reason to not go with you. But it seems we humans... we, the 'filth' have taught Dave how to feel. And now he has feelings you can't overcome with your logic."  
"Yes, I did all of that! The Enlightened Ones were supposed to rule above all! But one of ours betrayed us as we were about to go to war and almost destroyed all of us! But with Saar, I could overcome all!" he said, looking at Purge "except Saar is now a weakling! You will all die!"  
And shot the biggest light beam yet, except Purge stopped it, now completely golden as well.  
"You can't defeat me, 'daddy'. Feelings made me stronger! They made me who I am! And the person I am does not allow you to destroy my brother and our friends!"  
And he held the light beam as the others attacked, but neiter of them could move and any other attacks against the Enlightened One were merely deflected.  
Brandon looked at his hand and smiled.  
Rifter Blade.  
"Raven, give me some cover!" he said.  
"What are you planning to do?"  
"Testing a theory." he said and Raven began to attack more ferociously as to distract the Enlightened One as Brandon approached... but when he was almost there, Thro'hur made a light burst that knocked even Purge back.  
And he went to Brandon with hate on his eyes.  
"YOU THINK YOU CAN OVERCOME HE WHO SEES IT ALL AND KNOWS IT ALL?" he said as his eyes sparked and he grabbed the human by the collar "LAST WORDS, FILTHY SCUM."  
"Blinded by hate!" Brandon said and the Rifter Blade pierced his chest "CHECKMATE!"  
And then Thro'hur began to shine and exploded in light, leaving only the Rifter Blade behind.  
"Now I get why he didn't want to feel. It ruined him."  
"Brother... I thought he had killed you!" Purge said and hugged him "I am sorry for everything."  
"I am sorry too and yeah, he did, long story. How about I tell everything for you over pizza? My treat."  
"Glorious!"  
"So, what do we do about the mindwashed criminals?"  
Raven touched Brother Blood's head for a moment.  
"Arrest them. Now that Thro'hur is dead, they'll recover pretty soon."  
"Uh, can we have pizza first? I haven't eaten Earth food for ages!"  
And they smiled. And Brandon looked at his shadow and saw a smile on it again.


	13. An Epilogue or Two

"So that's what it was about? A dad that abandoned his son and tried to get him back by killing everyone he loved?"  
"Yeah. I also found out why you got away from that antenna. Seems Private Hive used Time Magic."  
"You were really worried about me, weren't you, Sparky?"  
"Of course!" he said and got embarassed "I-I mean, you're a Titan and all!"  
"Come on, Sparky... be honest. We've got a thing or what?"  
And then he blushed so much that he became redder than his robotic eye.  
Bumblebee laughed. That gave her the answer she wanted.

"Robin... I am so sorry about my starbolts! If I knew they would hit you -"  
"Don't worry about it, Star. You were doing the right thing."  
She then gave him a kiss on the lips. A passionate one.  
"Was that a good enough apology or you want another one?"  
He agreed meekly before falling on the floor, laughing in a silly way. She picked him up and they both looked at each other with love.  
Sometimes it took some injuries to make love rekindle.

"So, Raven...?"  
"What?"  
"Will you go on a date with me since everyone else is coupling up again and all?"  
She looked at his skeptically.  
"I pick the place?"  
"Sure! Uh... as long as it isn't anything too creepy..."  
"...You paying?"  
"Yeah, but nothing too expensive!"  
"...Fine. Tomorrow at eight. Don't be late or I'll haunt your nightmares" she said and closed her bedroom door.  
"Raven, you're kidding, right? Raven? Raven?"  
Inside she smiled devilishly. Beast Boy would never know what was coming.

"I am worried, brother... I-I can't do this."  
"Brandon... it'll be okay. I'll support you all the way through."  
"Okay... but the moment I feel weird, I timebreak until I can leave."  
"Do what you must."  
He knocked the door three times.  
"This feels harder than facing your dad."  
"He was never my dad. And it is because these are our parents."  
Then they opened the door and looked at them for a moment.  
"Dave, so good to see you! Who's your friend?" the mother said gently.  
It was hard to face them after all these years. He had been a street kid, a thief, a villain, a sellsword and now a hero. He thought of all that had brought him here and that gave him strength to say the words he until then dreaded. He gave them a calm and gentle smile before saying it.  
"Mom... Dad... I'm back."


End file.
